Known for its gems and its potatoes, Idaho is larger than all of New England put together yet has a population that is smaller than any New England state. With only about 19 people per square mile, it’s easy to see that Idahoans are used to long distances between their neighbors. Of course, wild and rugged is the way most of the state’s residents prefer things, especially since it takes an especially hardy person to make it in the wilderness of the Gem State.

​Despite its small living population, Idaho is still pretty popular with the dead. Ghosts are found everywhere from hotels to apartment buildings to a hospital to restaurants and a university dormitory. But the civilized places in Idaho aren’t the only haunted ones. An isolated mountain range is just as known for its cannibalistic dwarves as it is gold fields. Native spirits stalk one of the state’s most pristine lakes and long-dead military personnel haunt a state park.

Bear River Massacre Site

Outside of Preston is a sparse grassland in the shadow of low rolling hills. Today, this relatively peaceful site off of U.S. Route 91 is nothing more than pleasant highway scenery, but in 1863, it was the site of a bloody battle that took the lives of nearly 400 Shoshone Native Americans who were defending their homeland against the advancing Union Army. While most people think of the Civil War as being waged back east, this site is a testament to how American immigration decimated many native cultures that had called the land home for centuries. At was here that the biggest Native American massacre perpetrated by the U.S. government took place.

The Shoshone call this place Seuhubeogoi, meaning “Willow Valley,” but the first white surveyors named it Cache Valley. The land was traditional hunting ground for the Northwestern Shoshone as well as a place to gather grain, grass, trout and hunt smaller game. The presence of these animals attracted the first white fur trappers like Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith to the area and Brigham Young even considered it a potential site for his new Mormon colony before moving to Salt Lake Valley in Utah.

By the late 1840s, white settlers were coming into the area and homesteading. Some of the first permanent settlements in the area included Wellsville, which was established in 1856. While the Mormon settlers had a policy to “feed, rather than fight” these native tribes, the U.S. government prefered to push them off the land to allow white settlers to homestead. Eventually, the Shoshone found the one plentiful game in the area had disappeared and the tribe began to go hungry. The U.S. government hatched a plan to take the Shoshone to reservations in 1862 in hopes of further opening up the land, especially after gold was discovered in nearby Montana.

Several events contributed to the escalation of hostilities between the Shoshone and U.S. A white resident accused a Shoshone fisherman of stealing his horse and despite testimony that he was not in the area at the time, he was convicted and hung for the crime. He was the son of a Shoshone chief, who reacted by kill two white men collecting wood in Shoshone territory. Two groups of Oregon migrants were attacked in the area, which was falsely attributed to the Shoshone.

Shoshone teepees in Wind Valley.

​ Military officials located and followed a separate Shoshone group led by Chief Bear Hunter and took the chief and his people prisoner. ​In 1862, four Shoshone warriors were falsely imprisoned and ransomed for the theft of livestock and then executed by firing squad. Shoshone warriors then attached a freight hauling service traveling between two mining camps in retribution. As a result, soldiers at nearby Fort Douglas were ready for a fight and the California Volunteers left to confront the Shoshone. Most of the soldiers only took their weapons and rations of whiskey. The Shoshone, however, were largely unaware they were being hunted and their leaders were hoping to negotiate peace between themselves and the Mormon settlers. ​

​Around 6 a.m. as dawn rose, the soldiers under Major Edward McGarry and Maj. General Patrick Edward Connor attacked the Shoshone encampment led by Chief Sagwitch and Chief Bear Hunt. The forces were definitely unevenly matched. While the U.S. forces were armed with guns and artillery, the Shoshone had few guns and mainly used tomahawks and arrows for defense. The Shoshone were also starving as the result of their game being hunted out of the area by whites. Many were little more than bags of bones.

The Shoshone survivors of the massacre seen in 1863. While the U.S. initially only reported some 200 killed, later totals suggested as many as 500 Shoshone men, women and children were murdered at Bear River.

The U.S. soldiers killed the men and most of the children before raping the women. Many of the children were held by their heals and then beaten against rocks until dead. Women who protested being raped were shot, often at point blank range. Chief Sagwitch and a few survivors were able to escape. While only 14 U.S. soldiers were killed some 384 Shoshone lay dead and 160 women and children were captured. To protect themselves, many of the Shoshone allied with the Mormon church and left the area. ​Meanwhile, Connor, McGarry and their men were hailed as heroes. Connor was even promoted from Maj. Gen. to Brig. Gen. for his actions that day.

Shoshone prayer tree at the Bear River site.

However, the scars remained on the land were the Shoshone were slaughtered.The massacre site was proclaimed a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and the Shoshone acquired it in 2008 as it was sacred burial ground. They erected their own monument to the massacre, in addition to the one erected by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Several remains dug up at the site and placed in the Smithsonian were returned there to be buried in 2013.

The Bear River Massacre site and Idaho in general is haunted by the memory of the cruelty that happened here in the 1860s, and while the wider world might not know about the battle here, the local Shoshone still commemorate the members of their ancestors here. It seems the souls of those who were killed on that day cannot rest either, and sometimes remind the people who pass through this area about what happened to them. Visitors to the area have heard the tears of children and women, even when none were in the area. It is said in winter, when the battle took place, phantom footprints appear in the freshly fallen snow and trail off before disappearing completely. It is believed these are the spirits of those starving men, women and children who met their fate on this snowy field more than 150 years ago.

B.J.'s Bayou Restaurant

Jefferson County in Idaho is known for two things: radio and rodeo. Radio inventor Philo Farnsworth spent part of his childhood in Rigby and Earl Wesley Bascom ,known as the father of modern rodeo, lived and worked here. There is a third thing this county is famous for: a cajun-style restaurant in the tiny town of Roberts. Once known as the Hotel Patrie, B.J.’s Bayou Restaurant in Roberts is often considered the most haunted eatery in the state.

The Hotel Patrie dates back to 1892, about 20 years before Jefferson County was incorporated. The hotel would be added onto in 1915 and again in the 1920s, which would ad a bar onto the first floor. It was originally built by local politician Martin Patrie, who was the chairman of what was then Bingham County and head of the Republican party for first the county and then the state. Because of its owner's connection, the hotel served as a meeting place for the Republican elite who came here to discuss the issues and eventually created Idaho’s Silver Republican Party here in 1896.

The hotel in its later days.

​In addition to providing local guests with a place to stay overnight, the hotel took on many functions during Patrie’s ownership. It served not only as a meeting place but as a brothel, barber shop and post office and as cheap apartments. When Patrie died in 1903, his wife operated the hotel and then sold it to new owners in 1905. It was purchased by W.J.N. Adams, who renamed it the Adams Hotel and then sold it in 1910 to the Cornell family, who renamed it the Roberts Hotel after the town.

The Cornells only held on to the property for two years before selling it to R.R. Skinner, who renamed it the American Hotel and constructed the two additions. It ran as a hotel until the 1970s when disaster struck the area. ​To control the flow of the Teton River, an earthen dam had been under construction since 1971. A severe drought in 1961 as well as concern about the Teton and Snake rivers had prompted the construction of the Teton Dam, though geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey had noted the area was an active earthquake site. In 1973, the construction of the earthwork dam had opened up large fissures, but work continued until the dam was filled in 1975. However, the winter that year was heavy and between June 3-4, 1976, the dam was at capacity. On June 5, the water broken through the earthwork structure around 7:30 a.m., flooding much of the surrounding area.

​The Hotel Patrie was one of the few structures in downtown Roberts and many of the structures in the nearby Fremont and Madison Counties to survive the breach of the dam. The collapse resulted in the deaths of 11 people, 13,000 cattle and about $2 billion in total damage. While the government had paid $100 million to construct the dam, it found itself paying more than $300 million in claims related to the dam failure. While the Hotel Patrie survived, it and many structures in downtown Roberts remained vacant until the 1980s when new owners purchased the site and turned it into a cajun-style restaurant. The second floor was also renovated into offices and apartments. It was at this time that strange things began being reported by staff and customers.

This photo was one of a series that captured the breach of the Teton Dam in 1976.

While the spirits here are said to be primarily active after the restaurant is closed, many have spotted them during business hours. The owners believe around 15 spirits dwell here, many dating from around the turn of the century when Idaho was a hotbed for mining activity. One of the more famous is “Sam,” a spirit allegedly fascinated with the dryer and who likes to pull out clothing then scatter it around. He is also known for opening doors for people, only to slam them in their face at the last second. Other apparitions include a Chinese cook, a former hotel maid, a young woman in an evening gown, and a sinister man in a black coat.

Enders Hotel and Cafe

​Named for the natural springs with carbonated water located in the area, Soda Springs was a famous landmark for both Native Americans and travelers on the Oregon Trail long before it became the seat of Caribou County. Modern-day visitors can take a look at these natural wonders and then stay overnight at Enders Hotel and Museum, which is complete with local history and serves guests at the Geyser View Restaurant. Visitors can even see the geysers go off while enjoying their meals here.

Today, the Enders Building is Soda Springs houses a hotel, restaurant and museum. An accidentally man-made geyser can be viewed from the hotel's restaurant.

The story of the hotel begins in 1917 when brothers William and Theodore Enders decided to capitalize on the area’s natural geysers by opening a hotel for tourists. The neoclassical building cost $75,000 at the time, and the brothers borrowed about a fifth of the money from a local doctor. When drilling was done outside the hotel for a new water well in 1937, the Enders struck gold - or soda water. The new geyser was right next to the hotel and the city soon regulated it to erupt on the hour to draw more attention to downtown.

The Enders Hotel was remodeled once when the Enders brothers owned it, turning the ballroom into apartments. They sold it to Roy Kimball who then sold it to J.M. Frazier in the 1950s. Frazier began operating a coffee shop and cafe in part of the hotel and then sold it back to the Enders family. Lynn and Beth Beus bought the building in the 1970s, but only operated it during the summer. Those who stayed there were mainly migrant laborers. By the 1990s, the hotel was working as a cafe and bar with the second floor closed due to neglect.

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, the Caribou Historical Society wanted to find someone who would care for the important local structure. Soda Springs-native Rex G. Maughan purchased the structure in 1997 and spent more than $1 million and four years restoring it. Today, the Enders building is the Enders Hotel and Museum, which allows visitors to explore life in this area of Idaho in the early 1900s. While some come to the hotel to experience life on the frontier, others hope to hear something go bump in tehe night.

The hotel circa 1919.

At least two presences are known to haunt the hotel. In the 1920s, a hotel guest named Mr. Pape was staying on the top floor and attempted suicide by slashing his wrists late in the night. He began roaming the hallways and frightening other guests until a deputy sheriff staying over night shot him, afraid he would hurt someone else. It is believed he is the source of the spirit often seen roaming the upper floors in an erratic fashion. The basement is also haunted by another ghost. Back during the 1970s, another man was murdered in the bar that was run on the premises. It is believed the spirit of this individual still haunts the hotel today. A security camera set up in the basement even recorded a hazy male face with no body moving about the room. The presence here is also known for throwing things at kitchen staff. Phantom footsteps are often heard in the hotel and objects are moved around by invisible forces.

Frazier Hall

Founded in Pocatello in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, the school now known as Idaho State University is the alma mater of numerous professional football players, former U.S. Senator James A. McClure and actors Sue Ane Langdon and William Petersen. The university has helped make Pocatello one of the most populous cities in the state as well as a cultural center. While ISU is now an important institution to the state, that wasn’t always the case.

Frazier Hall as it appears today. The building on the ISU campus was named after a former president of the school who worked to have it upgraded from a two-year technical school to a four-year college.

​In 1915, the school was renamed from the Academy of Idaho to the Idaho Technical Institute to reflect changing times. When World War I ended a few years later, a surge of students came to the campus both to learn and to participate in the growing athletics programs. Because of its growth, campus officials wanted to expand the school from a two-year technical college to a four-year university. The first attempt was led by University President Charles R. Frazier, who served from 1919 to 1925. His bid was narrowly defeated by the state legislature and he was dismissed from the university.

​It would be 34 years before Idaho State became a four-year college and then a university, going from a southern branch of the University of Idaho to its own independent college in 1947. The university never forgot Frazier’s contributions and they named Frazier Hall in his honor. The building dates back to around World War II, and houses the theater and speech departments as well as two theaters, a costume shop, and design studio. While a new, larger theater has been constructed on the campus, there are some residents of Frazier Hall who would rather stay here.

The building is haunted by at least one named entity known as Alex, who is a known trickster. Custodians are his favorite targets and he is known for opening windows that were previously locked as well as moving objects around. The elevator also moves from floor to floor, even if someone is not on it or if that floor’s button has been pushed. Phantom footsteps stalk the building’s fourth floor, particularly during the later hours of the day.

Frazier Hall as it appeared in 1951.

Some of the spirits in this building have a flair for the theatrical all their own. The drapes in the auditorium are also known to move of their own accord and phantom piano playing is heard throughout the building, sometimes coming from rooms with no pianos. Two apparitions often attend theatrical performances in the building and can be seen enjoying themselves in certain seats. It seems that even in death the show must go on.

Farragut State Park

​On the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur D’Alene Mountains is Farragut State Park, a 4,000-acre facility in the Idaho Panhandle that features activities such as camping, picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, cycling, fishing, boating, swimming, disc golf, archery and horseback riding. The park is also the home of the Museum at the Brig, a confinement facility for the Farragut Naval Training Station that displays the camp’s boot camp, naval and war memorabilia. Now a popular place for locals to recreate and a site associated with both the Boy and Girl Scouts, one of the most interesting aspects of this state park is its military history.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt proposed the area around Lake Pend Oreille as the location of a new inland naval training center her husband was looking to build after seeing it on a flight to Seattle. The area was chosen and construction on the inland naval base began in March 1942. By September, it was the largest city in Idaho with a population of 55,000 people. At its, peak the facility had 776 buildings, 35 miles of roads, and about 50,000 sailors and support staff.

It was the second-largest naval training center in the world after the U.S. facility at the Great Lakes and some 293,000 soldiers received basic training here over 30 months during World War II. U.S. Navy personnel weren’t the only ones who called the base home. Idaho became home to numerous prisoner of war camps during World War II, and from February 1945 until the end of the war, some 750 German and Austrian prisoners of war called Farragut home. They were charged with tasks like gardening, keeping the grounds and fighting forest fires. The prisoners were allowed to publish their own German-language newspaper, had choir practice, a library and played sports. Many of the men reported being better treated as prisoners than they had been in the Nazi army.

The last recruits graduated in 1945 and the facility was officially decommissioned in 1946. Following the war, it was the site of the Farragut College and Technical Institute until 1949 when financial difficulties forced the closure of the school. In 1950, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game took over nearly 4,000 acres as the Farragut Wildlife Management Area, which would later become the state park in the 1960s.

Those who come here to camp overnight have reported many strange things, particularly around the brig museum and the areas that were once used as the naval training station. The first reports of paranormal activity actually came from veterans of World War II who came here before being sent home following the conflict. At least one German prisoner of war died here while being interrogated by an overly eager officer hoping to get information on the enemy. In that area of the brig, objects move, strange noises are heard and lights go on and off. Night watchmen have even reported seeing a balding soldier in period POW garb staring back at them through the windows.

A knot tying competition at Farragut during World War II.

​Several other apparitions are said to haunt the brig, but the most of these are the ghosts of former U.S. navy personnel. Just about all of the park’s employees have had some sort of supernatural encounter with one of these former soldiers in the park. at least one At least one person also committed suicide here during the war and others have reason to believe at least a few more deaths - accidental or otherwise - occurred in the naval prison cells during the war.

​While the majority of the spirits are said to haunt the brig, there is also some strange activity reported near the hospital area of the base. During the war, everything from small injuries to soldiers returning from combat with battle injuries were treated here. The facility once at 2,300 beds for naval men who were treated here not only by other male naval doctors but by nurses working with the WAVES. The hospital was located near the end of the peninsula and was eventually torn down.

Idahna Building

One of the most iconic buildings in Boise, the Idahna Building now serves as an apartment and condo building with some stores on the bottom. However, this historic structure began life as a hotel on Boise’s Main Street. The hotel has served a variety of purposes in its century of life and its French-chateau style architecture makes it one of the most noticeable buildings in town. In addition to being a local landmark, the Idanha is also known as one of Boise’s most haunted places.

When it opened in 1901, the Idanha was the grandest hotel in the entire state, designed by William Steward Campbell to provide a bit of luxury in the wild frontier. It had an electric elevator and was situated to greet the railroad passengers as they disembarked. Early prominent guests included Chinese-American pioneer Polly Bemis, orators William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, writer Roger Miller and presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Some of the most famous guests at the hotel stayed here in 1907 when “Big” Bill Haywood was put on trial for murder in Boise.

Haywood was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World and member of the Socialist Party of America during the First Red Scare in the 1910s. In 1905, Idaho Gov. Frank Steuneberg was killed by an explosion outside his home and Haywood was fingered as the culprit by famed Pinkerton detective James McParland. Darrow signed on to defend Haywood and his courtroom performance led to Haywood’s acquittal. In the 1920s, the hotel became a speakeasy with illegal liquor transported via dumbwaiters to the card room. During this period, a man killed his unfaithful wife on the second floor with a pair of scissors.

​The hotel gradually went downhill during the Great Depression and World War II until it was renovated in the 1970s. Today, the top floors are apartments while the bottom floor is home to several businesses. Allegedly, the former hotel is also home to several ghosts.The woman who was murdered here in the 1920s is said to roam the second floor while a bellman who was killed here by a guest is known to make the elevator go up and down. During the renovations to the structure, construction workers reported doors opening and closing on their own, lights going off and on and strange, frightening moaning sounds. The majority of these events were concentrated on the second and fourth floors of the building.

​Residents have also reported seeing a misty gray apparition at the foot of their beds as well as being pulled out of their beds at night. The basement is also a source of paranormal activity and many employees and residents have refused to enter the area as a result. After the hotel closed in the 1970s, most of its former employees had a spooky story to tell and today, many residents have scary encounters of their own in this historic Boise building.

Lake Coeur D'Alene

In the Spokane Valley of Idaho’s Panhandle is Lake Coeur d’Alene, which borders to the north the town of the same name. Like many other lakes in the area, it was formed between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago during the Missoula Floods in land that was carved out by glaciers. The lake is fed by both the Coeur d’Alene River and the Saint Joe River and then flows out through the Spokane River. The lake today is a popular tourist site because of its beaches and views, particularly the bald eagles that fish here. At least two state parks are also located on the border of the lake as is the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes and Kootenai County facilities.

While Coeur d’Alene is a French name, both the lake and city were named after a Native American group. The Coeur d’Alene people call themselves the Schitsu’umsh meaning “The Discovered People” or “Those who are found here.” For thousands of years, they lived in what would become Idaho’s panhandle reach Lake with Lake Coeur d’Alene serving as their center. At one point, the people had control of some 4 million acres of land.

The people were skilled fishermen and their first encounters with white settlers were the French fur trappers who came into the area in the early 1800s. These trappers gave them their French name, which means “heart of an awl.” The term was in reference to the skillful trading the tribe did with fur traders and their shrewd business sense. ​The people traded for a while with the whites and many of them converted to Catholicism in the mid-1800s after Friar Pierre Jean De Smet arrived there in 1842.

The people found themselves pushed from the lake they had called home first by the migrants crossing the area on their way to Oregon in the late 1840s and then after the construction of Fort Coeur d’Alene in the 1870s. In the 1890s, ore was discovered in the area and the native peoples were further pushed out of their land. These mines would be the focus of labor wars between miners and the company in the area. As miners abandoned areas south of the lake, the tribe was moved there in 1873.

Coeur D'Alene peoples on the DeSmet Reservation in 1917.

Today, the Coeur d’Alene people live on the southwestern end of the lake toward the Oregon border with the city of Plummer the center of tribal activity. Much of the Coeur d’Alene Reservation is on land that was polluted by miners and thus much environmental remediation is needed. While the people no longer occupy the vast lands they once did around the lake, one of their legends surrounding the lake still remains firmly entrenched in the minds of those who live and recreate in this area.

Massive sturgeon, like this one caught in Idaho in the Snake River, were frequently found in the state. Some believe the "Fishwoman" or lake monster that haunts Lake Coeur d'Alene was just a rather large specimen of sturgeon.

​For centuries, the Coeur d’Alene people feared a strange creature that haunted the lake. A huge horned creature they called the “fish woman” was known to bump up against boats of fishermen on the lake. Unexplainable noises came from the lake and the monster was said to sometimes morph into the body of a woman, hoping to lure people into the water to feast upon. The figure typically appeared on a large pointed rock that is now said to be part of Conklin Park. The people often hung offerings on a tree near the present-day community of Harrison as offerings to the lake monster.

The lake is still a popular fishing spot, and many of those who are out fishing on the lake still report strange encounters with the lake monster. Fishermen still report seeing something strange hitting their boats or a large aquatic creature churning up the water. Unexplainable noises are still heard around the lake and sightings of lake monsters at Lake Coeur d’Alene and surrounding lakes have occurred throughout the years with the largest concentration being between the 1940s and 1960s. Photographs purported to be the monster still surface from time to time.

Malad City Cemetery

​The only city in the sparsely populated Oneida County, Malad City takes its name from a river that begins in the area. Malad City enjoys the reputation of being one of Idaho’s oldest communities and is home to the state’s oldest department store. While it has seen a population decline in past years, the community is on the rebound in recent years. The city has another claim to fame: its cemetery.

Downtown Malad City is crowded with pedestrians and horse-drawn buggies in the late 1800s. The city was one of the fastest growing in the state, thanks in part to an influx of Welsh Mormons.

​For some, it may seem a bad omen that Malad City dervices its name from the French term for “sickly.” The city was named after the Malad River, which itself was named by Scottish-Canadian fur trapper Donald Mackenzie who arrived here in 1818. McKenzie and many of his men became ill while camping in the area and believed the water to be the cause. However, when Jim Bridger came through the area in the 1830s, the water seemed fine.

He determined the men had been ill by eating the roots of water hemlock, which was the reason native tribes here avoided eating beaver who munched on the roots. ​The first settlers here were largely Mormons of Welsh descent, ordered to settle the area by prophet Brigham Young. Though they were practicing Mormon, these Welsh settlers brought many of their customs along, including the eisteddfod, a music and poetry contest. Young himself visited the area himself to see how the new Mormons were getting along in the Idaho Territory. By 1886, Malad City was on the rise and became an important commercial stop between Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana. A railroad came through the area in 1906, allowing the population to double.

​The community blossomed further the 1920s into the 1950s with a dance hall, two movie theaters, two banks, several grocery stores, service stations, restaurants, post office, a hotel, bowling alley, two drug stores with soda fountains, and a variety of other business. ​​However, Americans became more highly mobile following World War II. Thanks to the GI Bill and their experiences abroad, many servicemen were setting out to see the wider world and leaving behind their smaller hometowns, like Malad City.

As the population went into decline, it seemed the fortunes of Malad City did as well. Future headlines around the city would mostly deal with disaster including an earthquake in 1975, an airline crash killing four Coca-Cola executives in 1996, and the beginning of a nationwide influenza outbreak in 2003. Today, the town is working on a reputation as an outdoorsman's paradise hoping to revive itself, which seems to be working.

​Some say that Malad City is cursed because of the bad luck the place seems to have, and they find evidence in the local cemetery. More than 4,000 people are interred at the municipal cemetery here, including former Idaho Gov. Jack Evans, Sr. and U.S. Rep. Ralph R. Harding. Some people who are buried here are the victims of a nearby dam burst in 1907-8, though new burials are frequent as well. Ghosts of the cemetery include a young woman in a red dress who wanders the cemetery at night. ​The second is an older man who was a groundskeeper at the cemetery. He worked there most of his life and when he was fired, allegedly hung himself. He is seen doing chores around the cemetery such as pulling weeds or straightening memorials.

Old Idaho State Penitentiary

From 1872 to 1973, the most fearsome outlaws in all of Idaho were all taken to one place: the Idaho State Penitentiary outside of Boise. The Romanesque-style prison complex once held everything from cell houses and execution areas to dining halls, a barber shop, blacksmith shop, hospital, and recreational area. Today, the former prison is a museum operated by the Idaho State Historical Society. The Old Idaho State Penitentiary State Historic Site educates visitors about law enforcement, crime and punishment in the early days of the Idaho Territory and through statehood.

The prison as it appears today. The Old Idaho State Penitentiary accepted prisoners over a 100 year period until violence led to its closure.

​The prison was constructed in 1872 when the territorial prison building was opened and received its first 11 inmates from the Boise County Jail. In the 1930s, the building was converted into a chapel. A new cell house was constructed in 1889 with a special wing for inmates on death row. In 1893, an administration building for the warden’s office, armory and visitation room was constructed followed by the commissary, dorm, barbershop, and hospital in 1894.

More than 13,000 convicts called the prison home over its lifespan and of the 11 executions that have taken place in Idaho history, 10 of them occurred here. Inmates included Harry Orchard who assassinated Idaho Gov. Frank Steunenberg in 1905, Lyda Southard who was called Idaho’s Lady Bluebeard and the infamous Raymond Allen Snowden who was known as Idaho’s Jack the Ripper.The violence at the prison increased steadily from the 1930s onward as the prison began to receive more inmate and living conditions worsened.

Inmates Clarence Hoyt and John F. Hines in their mugshots for the prison. Hoyt was imprisoned in 1891 for selling liquor to an Indian while Hines was brought in for grand larceny in 1897.

A dining hall was added in 1898 that was designed by an inmate. Two more cell houses came in 1899 followed by the women’s ward in 1905. Inmates constructed a multipurpose building in 1923, which served as a shirt factory, shoe shop, bakery, license plate shop, laundry room, hobby room and housed communal showers. Solitary confinement buildings were built in the 1920s, nicknamed The Cooler and Siberia. The final two cell blocks were added in the 1950s. While efforts were made to given prisoners some marketable skills, life here was not pleasant. Prisoners were given honey pots to use as lavatories and violence between prisoners was not regulated.

A cell block at the prison.

One of the most infamous spirits said to still stalk its halls are that of Ray Snowden, who was executed here. He is often seen in Cell House 5 where he was imprisoned up until his execution at the prison. ​​George Hamilton, an inmate convicted of highway robbery in 1895, is also seen haunting the dining hall he designed. Dennis, a cat that often roamed the prison yard in the 1950s and 1960s, is still seen here in spirit form, often patrolling the area that was once the shirt factory.

The two biggest incidents were in the 1970s, the first in 1971 and the second in 1973. During these events, the chapel and dining hall were burned to the ground and many other buildings were severely damaged. The final riot led to the closure of the prison on Dec. 3, 1973 and the remaining 416 inmates were moved to a newer facility south of Boise. That same year, the prison was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its significance as a territorial prison. The facility was later converted into a museum with historic firearms and military memorabilia ranging from the bronze age to modern times. ​Rumor of the prison being haunted began to surface between the time it was abandoned in 1973 and when it was taken over and converted to a museum by the Idaho State Historical Society.

Outside of specific spirits the “Hole” is the area of the prison where most strange reports occur. The room sometimes held six to eight men at a time in cramped conditions as punishment. The area where the gallows once stood is also rife with activity including the screams of a woman, feelings of intense sadness or dread and a feeling of malaise. Many people have had to leave this area because of the intensity of the emotion here. Other reports include the sounds of running and walking footsteps, wails of grief, cell doors opening and closing, the sense of being watched by something, feeling touched or pushed and hearing whispers. Some visitors have even left the building in tears because of unexplained feelings of anxiety and dread. Others have caught fleeting glimpses of people walking around empty halls.

​Owyhee Mountains

The Owyhee Mountains stretch through Owyhee County in Idaho and Malheur County in Oregon, dormant volcanoes east of the Owyhee River. The highest peak is Hayden Peak at 8,402 feet high though Oregon’s Mahogany Mountains is one of the more famous in the range, a former volcano utilized by Native American tribes as a camping and hunting ground. Silver and gold once drew thousands to these hills, but a strange legend has kept many from exploring the range.

The range is composed mainly of granite rock that was formed some 40 million years ago, though a meteorite impact some 17 million years ago left behind a layer of Miocene rhyolite. The mountains were actually named Owyhee after the islands of Hawaii, which was how early explorers thought the island nation was spelled. The first white explorers here where American, Canadian and British fur traders following the Owhyee River. The biggest change came to the area in the late 1800s when gold and silver deposits were found here.

​Now a ghost town, Silver City was the center of the mining boom, which busted by the 1900s. Some of the largest ghost towns in the state are here and Owyhee County boasts the largest number of ghost towns in the state including Silver City, Ruby City, De Lamar, Dewey, Grasmere, Wickahoney and others. Mining returned to the area in the 1970s with the opening of pit silver and gold mines. Climbers generally stay away from the area because of the damage done to the mountain face by the mining industry and though there are some backgrounds for all-terrain vehicles, much of the area is still an active mining site. However, explorers are drawn to the canyons within the mountains to see landmarks including natural formations like the face carved out of the rock and ghost towns.

One of the most enduring legends of the mountains is also its most frightening. The Owyhee Mountains are said to be home to a group of cannibalistic dwarves. The story traces back to the Bannock and Shoshone Indians, many of whom avoided the area. They told early trappers about dwarves with long tails they occasionally wrap up in their bodies to seem more normal. The dwarves are said to lure children into the mountains and then eat them. They would then mimic the baby’s crying and lure others into the mountains. Despite their small stature, the dwarves are said to be able to carry an elk on their backs with no problems.

​Other haunting reports from the area are strange singing voices attributed to the mountains. Some believe these voices are the dwarves while others attribute it to the miners who were lost and died in the mountains. A phantom white horse is also seen around the mountains and parts of Owyhee County, but this is a friend rather than foe. The white stallion has been known to save cowboys and farmers who are lost or in danger in the wilderness, often leading a pack of phantom horses.

Power County Hospital District

​Formerly known as Harms Memorial Hospital, this place of healing in American Falls is now a nursing home. While it has long been known as Harms Memorial Hospital, it originally opened as the Power County Hospital and the name was changed to honor a prominent local physician. This hospital has a long history, which may be the reason why present and former staff and patients have reported the facility is haunted.

​The hospital’s story begins in the early 1900s when German Mennonite settlers from Kansas and Oklahoma settled the area that is now American falls, developing schools and hospitals to support their mission of humanitarian action. While the larger population was concentrated in Aberdeen, American Falls was selected as the site for the first hospital as it was closest to the railroad lines.

​The original hospital opened in 1910 as the Bethany Hospital and Deaconess Home with 11 rooms and an operating room. The hospital struggled for 10 years, but was kept afloat by religious and government interests. When the American Falls Dam was constructed in 1925, the hospital and much of the buildings in “old town” American Falls were moved up the hill. The new hospital was opened on the site of the American Falls Youth Center in 1926 with 42 rooms and accommodations for 21 patients. It was renamed the Schiltz Memorial Hospital at its new location and was operated by the Mennonite church until Power County took over the facility in 1932. The county renamed the hospital the Power County Hospital.

​However, conditions as the hospital worsened and the Idaho State Board of Health gave the county government a mandate in 1958. They had one year to renovate the existing hospital or build a new one. Building a new facility was less expensive than renovating the old one, so the current facility was opened at its present location in 1961 after a year of construction. The Power County Hospital and Nursing Home had 18 nursing home beds and 16 hospital beds. In the 1980s, the name was briefly changed to the the Harms Memorial Hospital in honor of Dr. Frank Harms, a physician who had worked in the area for 40 years. ​​The hospital struggled financially during the 1980s and early 1990s. ​ The hospital was renamed the Power County Hospital when a new Harms Family Clinic was operated in the area.

Dr. Frank Harms

Slowly, the hospital functions were moved out of the building and into new facilities in town, allowing for the former hospital building to become a nursing home facility. Renovations in the late 1990s and early 2000s attempted to bring the facility up to date. Today, many believe some of the former patients as well as the doctor who once gave the facility its name are still here. ​Call buzzers go off in empty rooms as well as in vacant restrooms. Long dead hospital residents are sometimes seen roaming the halls late at night as is the apparition of Dr. Frank Harms. Long a non-smoking facility, the smell of cigars is often smelled around the hospital. It is known Dr. Harms enjoyed smoking cigars when he worked here. A tall man also stands near the entrance of the hospital and is known to watch staff members, making sure they are doing their jobs.

Spirit Lake

When most people hear of Spirit Lake, they think of the lake destroyed by the 1980 Mt. St. Helen’s eruption in Washington or the community in Iowa, but in the wilds of Idaho is another Spirit Lake located between Spokane, Coeur D’Alene and Sandpoint. The lake and community that bears its name arose from the logging industry in the early 1900s, but the history of the lake and the source of its name goes back even further to when Native Americans lived here. It is said the spirit for which the lake was named still dwells here as well.

The first settlers in the area were the Kootenai people who referred to themselves as the “Water People.” The lake was called “Clear Water” by them, and they lived on the lake’s shores. Sometime, the people changed the name of the lake to mean Tesemini or “Lake of the Spirits.” The name was changed, according to legend, to honor Hya-Pam or Fearless Running Water, the daughter of Kootenai Chief Hyas-Tyee-Skookum-Tum-Tum.

According to the legend, Fearless Running Water loved a Kootenai brave named Hasht-Eel-Ame-Hoom or Shining Eagle but a rival chief named Pu-Pu-Mox-Mox or Yellow Serpent threatened to wage war against Fearless Running Water’s tribe if she didn’t marry him. Fearless Running Water and Shining Eagle vowed their love to one another and bound themselves with a chain of rushes, a symbol of marriage. They then leapt together off an area around the lake known as Suicide Cliff. Their bodies were never found, and soon people began reporting shadowy silhouettes drifting across the lake in a phantom canoe. When the ice begins to melt, strange and mournful sounds are heard across the lake said to be the spirits falling to their death. While this legend is the most enduring, it isn’t the only one surrounding Spirit Lake.

Around 1900, logging companies became interested in the area with the town of Spirit Lake incorporated in 1907. The Panhandle Lumber Company, which was owned by the I&WN Railroad, began the town to house its employees. While the day laborers worked in the logging industry, the wealthy of communities like Spokane came down to the lake for vacation. The railroad brought the richer residents here to experience the warm waters and woodland views.

A Kootenai woman and canoe on the lake shore.

Homes were built and the areas of the lake not being used for logging were used as summer vacation homes and as a resort for those who could afford it. A playhouse for summer theater was established and some 2,000 residents lived here until 1939. That was when disaster struck spirit lake. In August 1939, a campfire was blown astray and began a devastating forest fire that spread through the area. The inferno was one of the largest in Idaho history and was visible from miles around. Local lumber crews and some 400 CCC workers were dispatched to fight the fire, digging trenches throughout the night and bringing in water. soon spread from the logging camps to the town. It burned several of the mills, much of the railroad facilities and headed for downtown. Fortunately, the wind diverted some of the disaster but the damage was done.

Post card from Spirit Lake

​The fire was put out by the next morning, but wind rejuvenated it later on that week. It consumed more than 35,000 acres as well as bulldozers and trucks sent to help fight it. Only one death was attributed to the fire, an elderly woman who died of a heart attack. The fire wasn’t completely extinguished until winter rains came in late November of that year. The devastation sent the town into decline and it wasn’t until the area was reborn as a vacation community in the 1970s it started to recover.

​Researchers discovered a strange rock coating at the bottom of Spirit Lake in recent years, making it one of the few naturally sealed lakes in the world. Some odd happenings such as voices, whispers and the site of various people in period garb around the lake has led some to believe that the spirits of those who died in or around the lake are then trapped there, much like the spirits of the legendary Native princess and warrior. Rumors of the lake being used as a place of worship and ritual sacrifice for Satanists cropped up in the 1970s after a mutilated cow was found in the area in 1972 and then a couple driving home mysteriously vanished the following year. Neither death of the cow nor the disappearances have been solved.

University Inn

​Many colleges and universities grow from small institutions of learning to facilities with national reputations in academics, sports or research. Then there is Gooding College in Idaho. Those who have never heard of Gooding are not in the minority. The school only operated for about 20 years in the early 1900s. Over the years, the former college facility has seen various uses and is now a hotel with a reputation for being haunted.

Established in 1917, the school was the only place of higher education between Pocatello and Caldwell in southern Idaho. It was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church and one of the largest donations came from Gooding himself. The school only offered bachelor’s of arts degrees as well as night, weekend and supplement classes for the town’s population. Enrollment peaked at 209 in 1928, but the school was closed by 1938. When the facility closed, the Idaho Methodist Church decided to use the structure as a hospital for tuberculosis patients.

An early photo of the structure, then Gooding College.

While plans for opening the hospital began in 1941, they were delayed by World War II. The Idaho Tuberculosis Hospital finally opened its doors in 1947 and was in operation until 1976, at which point other treatments became available for the malady. Again abandoned, the state of Idaho took over ownership of the building, giving some of it back to the Methodist Church.

​However, the state still remained in possession of the main building. As the structure’s condition worsened, state leadership contemplated demolishing it,. The building’s status as a local and historical landmark made the idea of destroying it unpopular, and so the hope was that it could be made of use to the business community. Eventually, it was opened as the Get Inn and has been operated as the University Inn since 2002. Rooms in the structure include former classrooms as well as rooms occupied by the nurses who once worked at the hospital.

​It is more from the facility’s use as a hospital than its time as a college that the hauntings here are said to originate. Guests have reported seeing apparitions of a woman and a young girl walking together as well as an older man in a white coat patrolling the area. Others hear whispers and phantom footsteps in the hallways. The area is also a favorite haunt of local ghost hunting groups who come here to explore the strange sounds and happenings reported by guests and hotel staff.